CLIMATE JUSTICE – WHAT THE PROTESTORS WANT

Climate Justice Pirate Cap’n Trade Disrupts Danish Minister of Climate in NYC Ahead of COP 15
Rachel Smolker and Daniel Tokar, September 23, 2009 (Climate Justice Action)

"Environmental activists, some dressed as 'Trillionaires for Bad Math' today delivered a 'climate bill' to Copenhagen, ahead of schedule. The mock 'bill' was delivered at a 3 pm lecture at Columbia University’s School of International Public Affairs hosted by Danish Climate and Energy minister Connie Hedegaard. Hedegaard is the chairperson of the UN climate summit to be held in Copenhagen this December…

"Representatives of groups including Climate SOS and Rising Tide North America presented a 14-foot banner representing the climate bill currently being debated in the US Congress, which many consider essential for strong US participation in Copenhagen. The banner depicts a two trillion dollar note, representing the size of the new market in carbon dioxide emissions allowances that would be established by the Waxman-Markey climate bill that passed the House of Representatives…"

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"The centerpiece of the banner is an image of a bewildered Al Gore, who introduced the concept of tradable emissions allowances into the UN process in Kyoto in 1997. Hundreds of environmental groups are critical of the current US climate bill. Many view the bill’s cap and trade provisions as a dangerous false solution, that is inherently unstable and ultimately incapable of reducing carbon dioxide emissions."

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[Cap’n Trade:] “‘Tis a bloody shame for the climate that Congress has chosen me to clean up this mess for ‘em. But I don’t mind a bit…’cause rising seas and booty and plunder are just my thing and soon the land, air and water will be all mine…If these lily-livered politicians aren’t ready to do something about the climate, those scurvy activists on the streets of Copenhagen are going to make ‘em walk the plank…”

"The 'trillionaires for bad math' argue that the House bill…falls far short of scientifically valid targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions; removes the EPA’s authority to regulate emissions under the Clean Air Act; and incorporates massive corporate giveaways into its cap-and-trade program…Corporations would be able to defer needed emissions reductions for decades under the bill’s offset provisions…Climate SOS, Rising Tide, and other groups of environmental activists in New York launched direct action interventions to signal the widespread opposition to the Waxman-Markey climate bill and its inadequate targets and schedules and financial mechanisms for greenhouse gas emissions reductions."